Information on Health Insurance and Credit Score

Are there any insurance companies that consider people with bad credit, besides COBRA?

I have bad credit, and I am considering bankruptcy. I am in desperate need of health insurance. Are there any insurance companies that consider people with bad credit, besides COBRA?? I've already been denied by BCBS and Humana due to "underwriting" reasons. Thank you!

Published: Dec 26, 2007

Highlights

Health insurance providers do not usually look at credit scores.

Auto insurance providers typically look at credit scores.

Denials are typically a result of a pre-existing medical condition.

To my knowledge, health insurance companies do not generally consider an applicant's credit score when making underwriting decisions, so I would be surprised if your credit problems are causing your insurance applications to be rejected. It is true that some types of insurance, namely auto, homeowner's, and renter's insurance, do consider an applicant's credit rating when deciding whether or not to insure the individual. While one's credit score does not directly affect the amount of risk associated with any given insurance policy, insurers statistical studies have shown that people with low credit scores are more likely to file auto and homeowner's insurance claims. However, no correlation seems to exist between one's credit score and one's likelihood of filing medical claims with a health insurance provider, as insurance companies do not routinely use credit scores in making decisions regarding the issuance of health insurance policies.

It is possible that the denial of your insurance applications may be completely unrelated to your credit problems. In fact, I would suggest that the more likely scenario is that your applications are being denied due to some medical condition that the insurance company thinks will cause expensive claims if it were to approve you for insurance. Something as seemingly innocuous and easily treatable as borderline high blood pressure can often result in the denial of insurance applications. In fact, any pre-existing condition could prevent you from obtaining health insurance, no matter how small the medical issue may seem to you. However, there are some insurance providers who will insure people with pre-existing conditions, though the insurance premiums charged by these companies tend to be significantly higher than those charged by other insurers.

If you have no medical condition that you think could have led to your insurance application being denied, I encourage you to ask the company that denied you; some states' laws require insurance providers to disclose the reason they denied any insurance application. This information could make finding a suitable insurance policy much easier in the future.